Method of laying underground pipes



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T. HIBBABD.

METHOD OF LAYING UNDERGROUND PIPES. No. 289,000.- Patented Nov. 27, 1883.

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N. PETERa Pmwuho a nr. Wash" c.

UNrrnn STATES i rena rrrcn.

THOMAS HIBBARD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD OF LAYING UNDERGROUND PIPES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 289,000, dated November 27, 1883.

Application filed July 24, 1882.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS Hrnnann, residing at the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Method of Laying Underground Pipes under ground by trenching, laying, and fillv to and out of the rear end.

ing in; and said invention consists of a process of driving the pipe through the earth horizontally, or slightly inc-lined therefrom, by rotating said pipe on its own axis, with a jet of water carried within its forward end, arranged to be used alone or in connection with a suitable boring-tool, for the purpose of loosening and removing the obstructing earth, while the pipe is fed forward automatically through the channel thus opened before it, and remains permanently in said channel when bored to the desired distance. One form of apparatus by which this result may be accomplished is shown in the accompanying drawings. As it is most advantageous to use a motor as a source of mechanical power for the performance of the necessary operations, I have represented one in the drawings consisting of a boiler and pair of vertical engines resting on a common bed-plate.

Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section through a street, showing the line of pipe be ing laid or driven, and a front elevation of the motor and turning apparatus. Fig. 2 is a crosssection of the street, with an end elevation of the pipe-driving machinery. Fig. 3 shows a plan of the same. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are longitudinal sections through the leading end of a line of pipe, showing some of the various tools and devices that may be employed to open a passage for the advancing pipe. Fig. at shows an ordinary earth-auger with a waterpipe arranged just back of it to throw a jet upon the debris collected within the permanent pipe, for. the purpose of washing it back Fig. 5 represents a combination of boring-tool and jet of water (No model.)

for opening the passage; and Fig. Grepresents the manner of boring when using water alone. Fig. 7 is a cross-section through the pipe, taken on n a in Fig. 4.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 8, A represents the pavement of a street or sidewalk, or the surface of the ground, as the case may be, and B the earth or soil beneath.

C is the line of pipe being laid, with the boring-tool K on its forward end, and G is the forward or leading end of the length of pipe previously driven.

over the trench N, which is dug in the ground for a starting-point. G is a hollow shaft or spindle, in which a ing by means of the chuck F, which is firmly attached to said shaft. Said shaft is rotated by means of the gear S, which meshes with the pinion on the crank-shaft of the engines,- and is arranged to slide through said gear S, while being rotated, by means of a feather in the hub of said gear, which feather fits in a keyway in the shaft G. The shaft G has a thread cut on its rear end, which is acted on by a nut in the hub of the brake-wheel H, so that when said wheel and nut are prevented from turning by the friction of the brake-strap I, applied through the hand-lever J, the spindle G advances as it is turned. The shaft G, with parts attached, is suspended in suitableframes, which hang from the crank-shaft of the engines, and around which they can be rotated until the shaft G rises above the ground-level, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. y

I is a steam-pump, with its suction-pipe T arranged to draw water from the tank M, and its delivery-pipe U connecting with the small pipe L, which extends within the permanent pipe 0 to itsleading end, as shown in Figs. 4,

L is provided with a nozzle, It, directed forward or backward, as the case may be. The water-pipe is supported and held to one side of the pipe 0 by means of the supports O,placed at intervals, and shaped to obstruct as little as possible the passage of the debris as it is washed out of the pipe. The tank M is placed to catch the washings as they fall from the pipe 0, and is provided with strainers for the D is the boiler and E the engines erected piece of pipe is centered and held while turn 5, and (i. The forward end of the water-pipe IOO then be attached to the obstructed pipe by means of offsets or any other method commonly used in such emergencies.

This process of laying pipe is especially applicableto establishing systems of subterranean pipes for inelosing electric cables or conductors. Such pipes are usually laid fIOlll' two and one-half to three feet below the surface, and they are provided with boxes opening to the surface at intervals of one hundred to four hundred feet, for the purpose of drawing in and repairing wires. At the locations of these j oint-boxes, so called, I should erect my machinery, making my lines of pipes long enough to reach from box to box. Thus the surface of the ground would not be disturbed oftener than necessary.

It is evident that a great many different kinds of tools and arrangements of turning apparatus may be successfully used in laying pipe by this process, and I wish it understood that I do not confine myself to the particular devices shown in the accompanying drawings.

I claim 7 1. The above-described process of driving pip espositively through the ground,whieh consists in carrying along within said pipe, by a smaller pipe. a stream and jet of water to loosen the earth in advance of the pipe, and by said forcing-j et washing and driving the earth back through and out of said pipe, as set forth.

2. The above-described process of driving pipes positively through the ground, which consists in carrying a boring-tool at the for ward end of said pipe, and a stream and jet of water within said pipe, by means of a smaller pipe, to wash and drive the earth displaced by said boring-tool back through and out of said pipe, substantially as herein specified.

3. The above-described means for driving pipes horizontally through the ground, consisting of a motor provided with devices for centering, rotating, and feeding forward said pipe,

in combination with a pump, 1?, arranged to draw water from a tank, M, force said water into the pipe L and out of the nozzle R at its forward end, from which said water may return in the outer pipe, 0, and fall from its rear end into said tank M, so that said water may be used over and over again, all as herein shown and described.

THOMAS HIBBABD.

\Vitnesses:

\VM. A. MACLEOD, ROBERT TALLACE.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. W. HIGGS.

ROLL FOR ROLLING UAR COUPLINGS. No. 289.001. "Patented Nov. 27, 1883.

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